Family (biology)

The family (Latin familia) is a hierarchical level of biological systematics.

It stands between the main ranks order and genus (or tribus - if any). Directly above the family can be the superfamily (lat. superfamilia), below it the subfamily (lat. subfamilia). In zoology, the family group consisting of further ranks is added to the special family rank.

In zoology, the family name always ends in -idae (for example dogs: Canidae, cats: Felidae), the superfamily name partly in -oidea (example canines: Canoidea, but alternatively also Caniformia) and the subfamily name always in -inae (example small cats: Felinae). If the members of a family are meant, the ending -iden is often used in German (for example dogs: Caniden, cats: Feliden), with members of a subfamily the ending -inen is used (example small cats: Felinen).

In botany, the family name generally ends in -aceae (e.g. Asteraceae, Liliaceae), subfamilies in -oideae (e.g. Lilioideae) and is always derived from the generic name of a defined type species (e.g. Aster, Lilium). Historically, however, naming according to morphological features was also common in botany. Article 18.5 of the ICBN specifies that eight such variant family names are to be considered validly published, namely Palmae/Arecaceae, Gramineae/Poaceae, Cruciferae/Brassicaceae, Leguminosae/Fabaceae, Guttiferae/Clusiaceae, Umbelliferae/Apiaceae, Labiatae/Lamiaceae and Compositae/Asteraceae. In all other cases, only the name derived from the type and ending in -aceae is considered valid.

In virology, the family name always ends in -viridae (exceptionally also -satellitidae or -viroidae), subfamilies in -virinae (or -satellitinae), superfamilies as a rank do not currently exist (as of April 2020). An example are the Coronaviridae.

The term goes back to Pierre Magnol, who introduced it into botany in 1689. Linné did not yet use the term. Michel Adanson then used it in 1764 in his work Familles des Plants and defined there the first 58 plant families. It is also not used by Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, where the ordines naturales ("natural orders"), which conceptually corresponded to the families, have a comparable status.

It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the rank began to gain acceptance - even outside the field of botany.

Evidence

1. ↑ International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
2. ↑ International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
3. ↑ Achim Paululat, Günter Purschke: Wörterbuch der Zoologie: Tiernamen, allgemeinbiologische, anatomische, physiologische, ökologische Termini, 8th edition, Springer Verlag, 2011, ISBN 3-8274-2734-7, p. 17.
4. ↑ Ann McNeil & R. K. Brummitt (2003). The usage of the alternative names of eight flowering plant families. Taxon, 52 (4): 853-856.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Judith Winston: Describing Species: Practical Taxonomic Procedure for Biologists. Columbia University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-231-06825-5, p. 384.
6. ↑ Gerhard Wagenitz: Wörterbuch der Botanik. Morphology, anatomy, taxonomy, evolution. 2nd, expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-937872-94-0, p. 110.